Coal cutter chain



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April 13, 1954 s. E. PROCTOR 2,675,219 COAL CUTTER CHAIN Filed July 17, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VE N TOP:

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HTTUPN'EY Patented Apr. 13, 1954 UNITED STATES 2,675,219 PATENT OFFICE COAL. CUTTER CHAIN Sidney Ernest Proctor, Aylesbury, England, as-

signor to Austin Boy and Company Limited, Aylesbury; England, a British company Application July 17, 1951, Serial No. 237,097

Claims priority, application Great Britain October 14, 1946 This invention comprises improvements in or relating to coal cutter chains, and is in part a, continuation of U. S. patent application No. 779,587 filed October 13m, 1947., issued as Patent No. 2,565,675.

It is objectof the invention to provide a chain suitable for carrying picks ina-coal cutter chain which is capable of bending in two dimensions. Ordinarily a'coal cutter chain works round a fiat jib and cuts a horizontal slot beneath the coal in the seam which is being worked, by means of picks which are carried on the links of the chain and project outwardly therefrom more or less in the plane of the jib. If a chain can be produced which will bend not only in the plane of the jib so as to pass around the sprockets carried in this plane but also in a plane at rightangles thereto, the endof the jib can be bent u wardly so as to carry the chain up into the coal at the back of the slot and so not only free the coal beneath the seam but also detach it from thev body of coal behind it and make its recovery more rapid and easier. The problem is to devise a cutter chain which will fulfil these conditions and at the same time be able to stand upto the hard wear required of coal cutter'chains.

Hitherto coal cutter chains have been constructed of links which are connected with one another by pin joints and are therefore capable of hinging or bending only in one plane.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved coal cutter chain in which the links are connected together by ball-and-socket joints which will run well onthe jib of a coal cutter even if the jib is -b6lll3'$0 as to occupy more than one plane, which willstand up to thesevere conditions of abrasion which exist in coal mines and which will run well on the driving sprocket of the coal cutter. It is a further object of the invention to provide a coal cutter chain which can be readily assembled below ground without requiring special workshop appliances.

With these and other objects in view the invent-ion will now be described in connection with. specific examples of constructions in which it is incorporated, reference being made to. the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of several links of a chain in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of one link; I

Figure 3 is a side elevation partly in section upon the line 3-3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a section upon the line 4 of Figure 3 looking in the direction of. the arrows;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a liner;

Figure 6 is an end elevation of .alinerior the socket; 1

Figure 7 is aside elevation of two links of the second construction of chain;

8 Claims. ((1262-33) Figure 8 is a plan of the same;

Figure 9 is an end elevation of one of the links of Figure 7 viewed from the left-hand side 01' that figure, and,

Figure 10 is a section upon the line Ifl-HI 01 Figure 8 looking in the directionoi the arrows.

Each. link I l of the chain consists of a forgin or casting having two flat sides l2, 13, which. at ford a considerable thickness of metal and are spaced apart from each other by an opening l4, Along one edge, which may be referred to as the inner or bottom edge, there are flanges or jibs l5, it, to run in the usual grooves in the jib of the coal cutter. Between the side walls I2, l3, there is formed towards one'end a socket ll, by means-of connecting walls It, It, integral with the side walls and extending across the space between them. Within the socket is a liner 2ccontaining a hemispherical recess 21. The liner is herein after more fully described.

The side walls l2, l3, are. united at the top by a horizontal wall or platform 22 which overlies thespace l4 and is extended beyond the side walls.

to the end of the link where it carries .a downwardly-depending neck 23 to hold a ball member .24. The ball member '24 is formed in two parts, the main part being integral with the neck 23 and carrying a dowel 25 on which is fitted a removable part 25 of the ball. member, which, is me.- chi-ned spherical on its external surface. In the event of wear the portion 26 can be removed and replaced with a fresh member. The platform. 22 carries a pick-box ll which may either be formed integral with the link. or welded on to the platform. The pick-box is located partly on the part of the platform .22 which directly unites the side walls l2, l8, and partly on the projecting ,part of the platform 22 which carries the neck '23 of the ball member 24. It contains a recess for a ick 2.3 and has stops 29, 30, which are of such length that when the chain is running in a straightline the stops on the pick-boxes run almost in contact with one another and prevent reverse bending of the. chain. Each plck-box is provided withasetscrew 31ltophold the pick .23. The centre of the ball 2 is in line With the centre of curvature of the hemispherical recess 2-i in the socket-liner 2% at the other end of the link, and the ball 2t is spaced su-fliciently from the ends-of the side Walls I2, 13 of the link to permit the socket end of another link to be engaged with the ball as shown in Figure 1.

lhe liner 2!? of the socket is located in a bore 32 which extends inwardly, i. e. toward the base of the link, has parallel walls in its upper portion and is then tapered as shown at 33 to a smaller diameter at 34 where it passes through the bottom of the socket. The lineritself iscorrespondingly shaped, as seen in Figures -5 and fi andi s pierced with a transverse hole 35 at its smaller 'stantial distance.

end below the hemispherical recess 2I to receive a rivet 36 by which it is held in place in the recess. A slot 31 is cut in the upper portion of the liner 29 to accommodate the neck 23 and to permit hinging movements of one link of the chain relatively to the next so as to enable it to pass around the driving sprockets provided in the coal cutter for the chain. The chain is also able, however, to bend in a direction at right-angles to that permitted by the slot 3? by rotation of the ball 24 and neck 23 about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the section i4 of the drawing. It will be seen from Figure 4 that the side walls I2, I3, are curved at their ends 38 concentrically with the centre of the ball 24, 26, so as to permit movement of the socket-wall I8 when the chain bends in this manner.

It is to be noted that the hemispherical recess H of the liner 2t fits the surface of the ballmember 24 up to a region closer to the neck 23 than the equator of the ball member (i. e. the diameter of the ball member taken at rightangles to the neck), so that it is not free to come out of the socket when the liner has been assem bled in the link. In assembling, the liners are first placed over the ball members and then the liners are inserted in the bore 32 and the rivet 36 holds all together.

The walls I8, Id of the socket are cylindrical or substantially cylindrical on their outer faces 39,

it, and thus, when the chain is assembled, as shown in Figure l, the spaces It (between the walls 39, db and the side walls I2, IS) are of such a shape as to be capable of fitting the normal shape of sprocket teeth which are employed on coal cutters to drive the chain. Ordinary standard sprockets of coal cutters can be employed having teeth fitting between the socket members on alternate pairs of links, or if desired sprockets having teeth to fit between every pair of links can be used.

It will be seen that the above construction consists of very few parts, namely the link I I (complete with its socket, pick-box, jibs, neck and ball all in one piece), the setscrew 3| for securing the pick, the liner 20, ball-cover 26 and the rivet 36 for retaining the liner in the socket.

Referring now to Figures 7-10, in this construction each link of the chain consists of a forging I i i in tough alloy steel having two side walls I I2, H3 spaced apart from one another which carry towards one end at their upper part a heavy trans'versely disposed block H4 which unites them together, is formed integrally with them, and overhangs from the end of the walls a sub- At the other end of the Walls between their lower part they are united together by a curved wall H5 which encloses the socket portion of the link. Along the outer side cf the base of each side-wall H2, H3 is an outwardly projecting flange H0 adapted to run in which is at right angles to the base of the chain and lies upon the centre line of the chain, to receive the stem I29 of a member carrying a ball I2I. lhe ball 12i is integral with the stem I2!) and is adapted to enter the socket of the neighbouring link. The stem I20 is secured in the main forging of the link by a transverse rivet I22 which passes through the block from side to side.

At the other end of the link from the overhanging block III which carries the ball-stem I20, there is, as already described, a curved transverse socket-wall 5 which unites the two side walls H2, H3 of the chain link together and which is curved downwardly, concentrically about an axis which is designed to pass through the centre of the ball member of the adjacent link. The side walls are bored through from side to side along this axis and the bore at the same time smooths out the internal or concave portion of the transverse socket-wall H5. In this transverse bore there are inserted two half-liners I24, I25 for the socket. Each liner is machined from a piece of alloy steel rod of such a diameter as to fit the transverse bore, and it is hollowed out at its inner end to a hemispherical shape which fits the ball member on the stem from the neighbouring link of the chain. The two socket members are cut away in the centre at I26 between themselves in the upper portion by a suflicient amount to pass the stem I20 of the ball and to permit the stem I20 to rock in a fore-and-aft direction, which gives the chain liberty to bend around the sprocket which drives it when in place on a coal cutting machine. The stem I20 also has a slight lateral clearance in the slotted out portion of the socket liners but as the chain is not intended to twist about an axis extending lengthwise of it, no more than enough play is allowed between the sides of the stem and the cut away portion I26 of the socket than is sufficient to permit free movement of the parts under working conditions. The ball I2I and the two half socket members I24, I25 are each hardened. They are preferably hardened by some method such as induction heating which permits the heating of the material to be concentrated in the outer skin of the component so that this is hard while the body of the component is soft. The use of a hardening type of alloy steel for these components and of induction heating permits of their being manufactured so as to be superficially hard without having a definite skin of a different hardened material such as would be provided by casehardening.

The outside of the. curved transverse socketwall I I 5 which unites the two side plates I I 2, I I3 f the link together forms a curved surface which is adapted to rest in the hollow between two teeth of the driving sprocket, and the corresponding curved wall of the next link of the chain rests in the next hollow of the sprocket teeth, the space between the two curved walls of two adjacent links being of substantially the same shape as the sprocket teeth themselves and fitting upon one of the teeth of the sprocket fairly closely. As dust tends to collect in the spaces in the chain into which the teeth fit it is desirable that there should be means to permit it to come out, and in order to permit the dust to be forced clear of the teeth it is convenient to make a slot I30 through the cutter-block I I4 which units the two walls of the chain together, the slot I30 passing upwardly through the block and forming a space through which any dirt may be extruded.

Normally with this chain there may be two cutters II I, H8 mounted on each link and the block H4 which unites the two side walls together is shaped to receive the two cutters. This may be effected either by forming the block so that it is not symmetrical about the centre line of the chain but has an overhanging portion I3! at one side of the chain as shown in Figure 9 to receive a second cutter, or an additional boss I32 can be welded on to the side for this purpose as shown in Figure 10.

It will be observed that the chain can be assembled by first placing the two halves I24, I of the socket liner in position in each link, with the ball headed stem ilil belonging to the next link between them and welding the liners in place. Each liner can readily be welded in place by running a line of welding metal I34, Figure 8) around the outer end of the liner and preferably the end of the liner is chamfered oif ready to receive such welding metal. Conveniently, the weld is made with an electrode of suitable composition by the electric arc-welding process, and if this is performed with reasonable expedition the weld can be effected without softening either the liner or the ball member.

The links having been thus assembled so that each of them has a loose ball member with a projecting neck I29 at each socket end, the chain can be put together by entering the successive stems I29 of the balls into the bores I I9 which are adapted to receive them and which belong to the next link of the chain in each case and securing the stems in the blocks which overhang from the ends of the links by means of the transverse rivets I22.

As an alternative, each link may be formed with a downwardly projecting stem which carries a ball I 21 and which is integral with the overhanging block portion I M of the link, from which the stem depends. In this case the chain is put together by assembling the socket liners I24, I25 into the links, and then either they can be welded in place or secured by rivets. If they are welded, the assembly of the chain can only be readily done in an appropriate workshop, but if they are riveted in place it is possible to put the assembly together underground.

The securing screws I for the tools H1, H8 preferably extend in this construction, as shown, in a direction parallel to the length of the chain.

They may be either square-headed setscrews,

provided with a suitable locking device or they may be screws of the type having no head but a hardened hexagonal key-hole in the end.

I claim:

1. A cutter-carrying chain comprising in combination a series of links at least some of which have cutter-carrying sockets and each of which comprises a base, a body portion standing up from the base and having a transverse bore extending through it from one side and a socket-opening in one side of the bore, a neck upon the link carrying a ball entered in the socket opening of the next link of the chain, and two liners secured in the bore, one on each side of the ball of the next link, the liners having hollow portions which fit around the ball where they engage it.

2. A chain having a liner as claimed in claim 2 wherein the bore extends right through the link and is open at both ends, one end towards each side of the link, each half of the liner being secured in place in the bore by a line of weld metal extending between the outer face of the liner and the surrounding metal of the link.

3. A chain having the features set forth in claim 1 wherein ball-carrying members are provided, each of which projects from one link into the socket of the next link and is made with a ball portion which fits the said socket and a stem portion which fits into an aperture in the link which carries it and is held therein by securing means.

4. A chain as claimed in claim 1 wherein the balls of the ball-joints are integral with the link which carries them and the sockets :in which the said balls engage are removable from the links which carry them.

5. A coal-cutter chain comprising in combination a series of links, each consisting of a forging comprising two side walls, a cutter block integral with the side walls and uniting them at the top, said cutter block overhanging the side walls at the end thereof, means in the cutter block to hold coal-cutting tool-means, a bore in the overhanging portion of the cutter block to receive a stem, a ball-carrying stem secured in said bore, a curved socket-wall extending between and uniting the side-walls of each link at the other end from the overhanging portion of the cutter block, a transverse bore through the side walls within said curved socket wall, and two half-liners secured on said bore to embrace the ball carried by the stem of the next link.

6. A tool-carrying chain comprising in combination a series of links each formed with two side walls, a tool-carrying block uniting the upper portion of the side walls together and overhanging from one end thereof, a socket at the other end of the link formed by a curved transverse wall between the side wall uniting them together, removable liner means in the socket rigidly fitted in two halves in a bore which extends transversely through the link between the side Walls from side to side thereof, a ball-carrying member depending from the tool-carrying block into the liner means, and guide-flanges 0n the lower portion of the side walls, said guide-flanges being adapted to run in a jib-guide.

'7. A tool-carrying chain comprising in combination a series of link each formed with two side walls, a tool-carrying block uniting the upper portion of the side walls together and overhanging from one end thereof, a socket at the other end of the link formed by a curved transverse wall between the side Walls uniting them together, removable liner means in the socket, welded in place by a line of welding metal weak enough to be readily broken when removal is required, a ball-carrying member depending from the toolcarrying block into the liner means, and guidefianges on the lower portion of the side walls, said guide-flanges being adapted to run in a jib-guide.

8. A tool-carrying chain comprising in com bination a series of links each formed with two side walls, a tool-carrying block uniting the upper portion of the side walls together and overhanging from one end thereof, a socket at the other end of the link formed by a curved transverse wall between the side walls uniting them together, removable liner means in the socket, a ball-carrying stem depending from the toolcarrying block into the liner means, the liner means being cut away only so as to permit bending of the chain by movement of the ball and its stem about a horizontal axis relatively to the base of the chain and to resist twisting movement on the chain, and guide-flanges being adapted to run in a jib-guide.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,401,107 Breeze Dec. 20, 1921 1,920,035 Stephens July 25, 1933 2,086,573 Osgood July 13, 1937 2,566,675 Proctor Sept. 4, 1951 

